Doug Morrissey Doug Morrissey i(10258841 works by)
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon Ned Kelly : The Stringybark Creek Police Murders Doug Morrissey , West End : Connor Court Publishing , 2020 21098040 2020 single work biography

'In this his final book in a trilogy of works dealing with Ned Kelly and his community. Doug Morrissey presents the definitive account of the Stringybark Creek Police Murders. The ambush murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek in October 1878 was Ned Kelly’s greatest crime. Ned shot and killed Michael Kennedy, Michael Scanlan and Thomas Lonigan and arrogantly blamed them for their deaths. Sergeant Kennedy endured a two hour interrogation and suffered a particularly callous and coldblooded death. Thomas McIntyre escaped the carnage and wrote a lengthy memoir of the Stringybark Creek encounter, which is annotated and published in Morrissey’s book for the first time. Doug unravels the Stringybark Creek Police Murders distinguishing myth from fact in an even handed and scholarly fashion. Newly researched material in the book provides insight into the family and professional lives of each of the Stringybark Creek policemen. Victim Impact Statements from Kennedy, Lonigan and McIntyre descendants are included. Regrettably, Michael Scanlan has no Victim Impact Statement as no family members could be located. Among the photographs included is Sergeant Kennedy’s gold watch looted from his dead body by Ned Kelly. More than the famous Kelly armour, Kennedy’s watch is a potent symbol of the bushranger’s evil deeds. What he did at Stringybark Creek legally cost Ned Kelly his life. He aggressively chose to confront the police and the die was cast for everything that followed.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 The Silliest Ned Kelly Movie Yet. Doug Morrissey , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , November vol. 63 no. 11 2019; (p. 93-95)

— Review of True History of the Kelly Gang Shaun Grant , 2018 single work film/TV
'Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 6. From the beginning, “true history” became irrelevant, as a written message appeared on the screen declaring, “Nothing you are about to see is true.” The film went on to base its fantasy story on a “memoir” written by Ned Kelly to his fictitious daughter professing to be a “true account of my life”. This sham muddle of truth and fiction is pure make-believe, masquerading as a psychological insight into the criminal mind—the narcissistic mind of a predatory criminal, horse thief, robber of banks and killer of policemen. This flawed film incorporates Ned’s many lies and distortions, expanding on the excuses he used to exonerate himself.' (Introduction)
1 1 y separately published work icon Ned Kelly : Selectors, Squatters and Stock Thieves Doug Morrissey , West End : Connor Court Publishing , 2018 14690913 2018 single work biography

'Doug Morrissey’s acclaimed book Ned Kelly: A Lawless Life (2015) was short listed for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Australian History in 2016. This his second book in a trilogy of historical works dealing with Ned’s life and times, shines a much needed light on the bushranger’s pioneer community. The lives of selectors, squatters, and stock thieves are examined revealing a complex community, significantly different from the Kelly myth fiction of squatter tyranny, police oppression and selector poverty and despair. Morrissey’s book holds the key to understanding the Kelly Outbreak, Ned and his Sympathisers and the neglected ‘silent’ majority of respectable, law abiding residents. It reveals the collaborative fulcrum on which community life turned, based on cooperation not conflict. Settling the land is discussed as a successful pioneering endeavor rather than the usual depressing tale of woe. Cultural beliefs, shared values, community goals and how people conducted and expressed themselves in their daily lives, are at the center of this groundbreaking book. Those writing about the bushranger’s life and times from now on, will need to reference Morrissey’s evidence based research or their writings will not be taken seriously.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 The Notorious Widow Kelly Doug Morrissey , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Quadrant , April vol. 61 no. 4 2017; (p. 68-70)
'I n the past five years, there have been two published biographies of Ellen Kelly. Neither has shed much light on the mother of Ned Kelly, beyond portraying her as a long-suffering woman with a large family who was constantly hassled by the wicked police.' (Introduction)
1 2 y separately published work icon Ned Kelly : A Lawless Life Doug Morrissey , Bacchus Marsh : Connor Court Publishing , 2015 10258874 2015 single work biography

'The books on Kelly multiply without adding to our understanding. Instead the mythologising becomes more intense and uncritical. Doug Morrissey has something new to say on Kelly and his world. Ned Kelly was very ready with excuses and justifications for his actions. His admiring biographers endorse them. In this book Doug subjects them to close scrutiny. They all fall over and a different Ned emerges – a man who had embraced a lawless life. Doug Morrissey is an expert on life in Kelly country. His previous writings have annoyed the admirers of Australia’s most famous bushranger. This book will cause heated debate. It includes a criticism of the best known Kelly books and a line by line annotation of the errors and misrepresentations in Ned’s own Jerilderie Letter.'

Source: From the introduction.

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